Marcus from Uppsala, Sweden

1) What is your name?
-"Marcus."

2) How old are you?
-"23 years old."

3) What is your nationality?
-"Swedish."

4) How many times have you been to Japan?
-"This is my second time. My first trip was in 2006."

5) Why did you come to Japan?
-"The main reason was obviously to practice iaidô at Takada Gakudô Sensei's dôjô, but I came here also to do some sightseeing and meet friends. But if I hadn't begun practicing iaidô I don't think I would have been so interested in coming here."

6) When did you start iaidô?
-"In February 2005."

7) What made you start?
-"Actually I thought I would begin practicing kendo. I went to an open house event held in a martial arts practice center (in Uppsala, Sweden) where many different martial art clubs demonstrated their techniques and shared information. That was the first time I saw or heard about iaidô; so instead of kendô I decided to try it and thought it was great therefore I stayed."

8) Have you participated in iai demonstration? What was it like?
"In 2006 I attended the 5th anniversary celebration of Nippon Iaidô Kyôkai which was held here in Japan. It was of course very interesting to see Takada Gakudô Sensei but also because of the other members of different dôjôs and iai schools besides our Musô Shinden Ryû. We don't have the chance to see those in Sweden."

9) Is there a difference between training in Japan and in Sweden?
- "Yes, but mostly the differences are quite small, actually, as well as some of the "manner" aspects are done differently. For example, in the beginning of each iaidô practice we do battô-kiritsuki and then shoden just like here, but after that those who haven't yet practiced tôhô have free training while others do tôhô, it is the same with chuden and okuden. Also we don't do jôdô after iaidô practice; we have a separate training time for it, although sometimes we do kumigata at the end of iaidô practice. But other than that it is mostly the same."

10) What do you think about Takada Gakudô Sensei's style related to iaidô and training?
-"I think Takada Gakudô Sensei's teaching style is great, even for us who hardly know any Japanese he manages to get the message thru. I can't say much about the mini "lectures" during practice since my Japanese is far too bad to understand more than the most basic things, but during the actual practice I think he's teaching style is very pedagogic."

11) What kind of a teacher is Takada Gakudô Sensei?
-"I would quite simply say a good one. Especially his ability to teach at so many different levels so that, for example, after a iaidô seminar, both beginners and advanced students feel that they have been taught something."

12) What would you like to say to someone who is thinking about starting iaidô?
-"Try it! And also, try to keep with it at least through the beginner's term so that you have a little bit more perspective whether to continue or not. I think it is true for most budô (at least for the ones I have tried) that it might take a while before the "real" learning can begin."

Yokohama, Japan 2009/7/4